Espresso Machine placement - under cabinet clearance for water tank.

[eelhc]

In the kitchen remodel process and I figured I'd throw in a new espresso machine... What's an additional $2K when we're spending all of our money anyway.

Anyone have a Rocket Espresso Appartamento or a similarly sized machine on the counter under the cabinet? How do you fill the water tank? The machine is ~14" tall so additional 10" or so clearance is required to pull out the tank (2' is a bit much cabinet/counter spacing). It's heavy so sliding it out doesn't seem like an option.

 

[dfoulk]

I don't have an expresso machine but when we did a kitchen upgrade we replaced all of the cabinets. The cabinets on one wall that are separate we raised up a bit for a bar/drink area. We put a built in drink fridge under the cabinets on the left side (would highly recommend that) and the right side two cabinets hold bottles,etc. The cabinets above hold glassware and all of that. With the higher up cabinets, blenders and coffee machines fit well there. I can fill the larger Breville coffee machine that we have with beans or water without having to move it at all. Same deal with dumping things into the blender. The Breville coffee maker that we have is 17 inches high and fills from the top.

The top cabinets are about 22 inches above the counter top where the other cabinets are closer to 18 inches above. It's not an issue for us as we have high vaulted ceilings. The cabinets we chose for this bar area are slightly less tall (by a few inches) than the ones for the rest of the kitchen so they all blend together well. We used different sized cabinets in height as well as depth to throughout make them a bit more appealing.

 

[StillShaving]

That is an interesting question. One might think a machine of that name would deal with cabinets a little better. Looking at customer photos on SeattleCoffeeGear it seems that many do place then under overhead cabinets, but it must be a bit of a pain to remove or refill the tank. I saw one online commenter say they used a beer bong to refill their machine. haha.

Both drip and espresso machines can be trouble to fit under kitchen cabinets. I am sure you have considered this already, but since you are remodeling you could splurge a little more and get one that needs to be plumbed in.

 

[eelhc]

I chatted with Seattle Coffee Gear. The Appartamento requires 25" to pull out the water tank. Too big a gap to leave between the counter and cabinet/shelf. It's a ~50lb machine so sliding it out to fill is a non-starter for my wife. They do make fill funnels so I'll look into those.
Lots of other decisions to make. I'm debating the E61 group head. Non-proprietary, tried and trusted with parts widely available. But.... some modern group heads seem better for household use.
I'll "slum" with my Breville Infuser for a bit longer.

 

[Avi]

We have a Breville touch with almost the same issue (I can take a picture if you'd like) If I pull completely up - I will hit the cabinet above. What one can do is pull up so it disengages and then just move it sideways .. For that another 5-6 inches of clearance or so works fine. I must admit I do that maybe 30 percent of the time. The other 70% of the time I do the ever magical, open the top cover up and pour water in with a glass approach.

 

[vacman]

Hey, that's not slummin'. Breville makes some real nice coffee equipment. I have the Oracle which outperforms several of the other expensive machines I've owned. I do not recommend direct plumbing a machine into your water supply. If anything goes wrong (calcium buildup, float level malfunction, etc) you could have a flood on your hands. Then there's other brands available besides Rocket. What did Seattle Coffee Gear recommend? They're pretty good and that's who I've dealt with.

 

[Mick]

Look at plumb/tank combo models.

If you are remodeling, a dedicated valve for your espresso machine is easy.

 

[Ramathorn]

Not sure if this would work for you, a friend had an appliance garage installed when he did their kitchen. It has a heavy duty slide out tray. He has his coffee maker and toaster in there. Opens the door and pulls the tray out to use the appliances.

 

[eelhc]

Hey, that's not slummin'. Breville makes some real nice coffee equipment. I have the Oracle which outperforms several of the other expensive machines I've owned. I do not recommend direct plumbing a machine into your water supply. If anything goes wrong (calcium buildup, float level malfunction, etc) you could have a flood on your hands. Then there's other brands available besides Rocket. What did Seattle Coffee Gear recommend? They're pretty good and that's who I've dealt with.

I have the Breville Infuser which is a lower end Breville machine. Along with a smart grinder pro, It's been a good setup and I can pull a decent shot but it's hard to dial it in and lacks power. A lot of limitations including the smaller, 54mm portafilter. Breville does make higher end machines but at prices where I am cross shopping them with prosumer machines. Also, the one time I had to use Breville customer service, it was not a pleasant experience.

Anyway... part of this is that I've injected myself with financial novocaine for the kitchen remodel so why not upgrade the coffee equipment while we're spending all of our money?

At the moment, I'm looking to go with an E61 machine to avoid any issues with proprietary parts, heating systems, etc. While I mentioned the Rocket Appartamento to give an idea of the size of the machine I am considering, I would probably go for a HX or DB machine with PID.

 

[sanookd]

I have an old Rancillo S24(semi commercial)pour over machine. It sits on an open island so filling isn’t an issue nor is heat.
Does the machine you’re looking at need clearance from above to dissipate heat?
Also can you get it repaired locally where you’re located? I’d be very reluctant to have to ship a 50+lb machine back for repairs.

 

[eelhc]

I have an old Rancillo S24(semi commercial)pour over machine. It sits on an open island so filling isn’t an issue nor is heat.
Does the machine you’re looking at need clearance from above to dissipate heat?
Also can you get it repaired locally where you’re located? I’d be very reluctant to have to ship a 50+lb machine back for repairs.

Heat dissipation is not an issue. I'll need to fill it with a funnel. We do have repair facilities nearby. That said, part of the reason I want to go with an E61 Group is that most of the machines have pretty standard parts.

 

[haggis]

We put our superautos on a thin synthetic cutting board (have even used thick vinyl sheets cut to size) and they slide easily ... sort of like a planar bearing.

We sometimes fill the tank from the side using a pitcher, although that option depends a lot on the unit and tank design.

 

[eelhc]

We put our superautos on a thin synthetic cutting board (have even used thick vinyl sheets cut to size) and they slide easily ... sort of like a planar bearing.

We sometimes fill the tank from the side using a pitcher, although that option depends a lot on the unit and tank design.

Can't slide too much otherwise I have to hold the machine when I twist the portafilter on.

 

[ruckin]

I might be too late to chime in but in 2019 I designed my kitchen to include an espresso station. I have a kitchen sink with a window and to the left is my espresso area. I have two holes in the granite - one is the drain and the other is for the water supply line. I have a LaMarzocco GS3 but I wanted to upgrade my grinder from a zillion year old mini mazzer to something like a Compak k10 so I had them provide me 28" of clearance over that counter with that one section of upper cabinet. So I have one "smaller" cabinet on the end then a window then normal height cabinets. It looks great and once I find a screaming deal on a taller grinder it will fit just fine. To deal with the plumbing I had to reshape a couple of the drawers under the counter to make room for the waterline and cutoff valve.

I love it and if I move I will go through the expense to be able to plumb in a machine and have room for a grinder even if I need to remove 24" or so of upper cabinets.

 

[Leverspro]

^ Very nice! We have used a cart solution for a large vintage spring lever machine converted from 220 to 110 power. A Flo jet pump let's us use spring water instead of the mains. Works well.

 

[Old School TSD]

I wanted a nice espresso machine after my gagia finally kicked it. Ex wife got me a Nespresso.
Reason number 1,492 she's an ex lol.
I haven't replaced it yet because it does make a nice, expensive beverage, but mainly I don't want to do the research on what to buy. Recommendations?

 

[Leverspro]

Coffee doesn't have to be expensive to be an extremely satisfying ritual and hobby interest. A basic pourover drip (Like a Hario or Kalita) and a kettle makes great coffee. BUT, a good bur grinder and coffee less than three weeks old off roast is critical. Espresso is on another level for investment / reward. If it's worth the cost and time to you then it's a fantastic way to turn coffee brewing from a mundane chore to a great hobby. I don't live in the USA, but if I did I'd probably use Chris's Coffee. They have a good reputation. For basic brewing stuff, this site is great: Pour Over - https://www.sweetmarias.com/brewing/brewers/pour-over.html

 

[Ivo4u2]

I have a Jura and before that Gaggia. But I have a pull out faucet head on a long hose works for me.
What you could do is modify the tank so it has its own water line and faucet. But you have to be able to prevent overfilling. If needed there are also electronic switched faucets and sensors to do it automatically. But overfilling still applies